In 2011, Quilty was commissioned by the Australian War Memorial to spend time with the Australian Defence Force in Afghanistan as its official war artist. He examined and documented the experiences of Australian service personnel via his painted portraits, which featured at the Australian War Memorial as a series titled “After Afghanistan”.
Quilty examines “who men and women are in our culture”, and the men and women who are represented in his After Afghanistan (2011) series are “an extreme version” of young people in our Australian culture. In an interview, Quilty expressed that he felt a responsibility to tell the stories of these young people. His After Afghanistan series visually articulates the psychological and emotional effects of war on young Australians who are actively involved in war efforts.
References:
http://www.benquilty.com
https://www.awm.gov.au/exhibitions/quilty/
Quilty examines “who men and women are in our culture”, and the men and women who are represented in his After Afghanistan (2011) series are “an extreme version” of young people in our Australian culture. In an interview, Quilty expressed that he felt a responsibility to tell the stories of these young people. His After Afghanistan series visually articulates the psychological and emotional effects of war on young Australians who are actively involved in war efforts.
References:
http://www.benquilty.com
https://www.awm.gov.au/exhibitions/quilty/
Boyd’s work challenges Western versions of the first contact with Indigenous Australians and the accuracy of the first colonial representations of these events. He is also concerned by the way museums have historically condoned and endorsed the theft of indigenous culture and the dehumanisation of Indigenous peoples. Boyd's work has also been described as an 'interrogation of Eurocentric perspectives on Australian history and the ethics of colonisation' (http://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/media-office/daniel-boyd-2014-bvlgari-art-award-recipient/).
"My recent work is about the trajectory of information and how it passes back and forth over time and between cultures. Through the movement of information, details and facts associated with historical events and objects are lost. The paintings acknowledge this process and are a remembrance of that loss. They recognise that we will never be able to fully comprehend our past or our future. My use of dots references the idea of the cultural lens and the fact that we all have different points of view", said Daniel Boyd.
References:
https://www.mca.com.au/collection/artist/boyd-daniel/
http://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au
"My recent work is about the trajectory of information and how it passes back and forth over time and between cultures. Through the movement of information, details and facts associated with historical events and objects are lost. The paintings acknowledge this process and are a remembrance of that loss. They recognise that we will never be able to fully comprehend our past or our future. My use of dots references the idea of the cultural lens and the fact that we all have different points of view", said Daniel Boyd.
References:
https://www.mca.com.au/collection/artist/boyd-daniel/
http://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au
“My art practice explores ways in which the social and environmental chain of effects from the past follow us into the present”
Kneebone’s work explores identity, in particular that of Australia and her family, and blurs the line between history and memory. Her body of work “Continental Drift” makes connections between British cultural traditions and how the influence of British settlers in Australia has altered its identity. Similar themes are also present in her 2010 series Naturally Disturbed, which comments on the disruption of tangible evidence of her family’s history and that of colonial settler culture.
“Central to my studio practice is the transformative process of mixed media assemblage and photomontage that allow for new associations to be made from fragmented clues found in museums, photographs and archival material”
References:
http://suekneebone.com
Kneebone’s work explores identity, in particular that of Australia and her family, and blurs the line between history and memory. Her body of work “Continental Drift” makes connections between British cultural traditions and how the influence of British settlers in Australia has altered its identity. Similar themes are also present in her 2010 series Naturally Disturbed, which comments on the disruption of tangible evidence of her family’s history and that of colonial settler culture.
“Central to my studio practice is the transformative process of mixed media assemblage and photomontage that allow for new associations to be made from fragmented clues found in museums, photographs and archival material”
References:
http://suekneebone.com
Benson is a performance artist who uses film and video to document his work. He explores issues such as sexuality, gender, sub-culture and Australian identity- how it’s evolving and what influences and changes our perception of what Australian identity is.
Benson illustrates these themes via visual metaphors and symbolism in his work. For example, Motherland (2012) examines Australia’s relationship with its British heritage and utilises metaphors from the monarchy.
“I drew parallels between the British Monarchy and Australia and my own family. I looked at the matriarch in my own family (grandmother, mother, sister) and I embodied those roles”
Also, Benson comments on the anxiety within Anglo-Saxon Australia towards difference in Our Lucky Country (Still Different) (2007).
References:
http://www.liambenson.net
Benson illustrates these themes via visual metaphors and symbolism in his work. For example, Motherland (2012) examines Australia’s relationship with its British heritage and utilises metaphors from the monarchy.
“I drew parallels between the British Monarchy and Australia and my own family. I looked at the matriarch in my own family (grandmother, mother, sister) and I embodied those roles”
Also, Benson comments on the anxiety within Anglo-Saxon Australia towards difference in Our Lucky Country (Still Different) (2007).
References:
http://www.liambenson.net
The Claiming of Things (2012)
Video |
Joan Ross
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Ross creates digital prints and videos as part of her art practice, and is conceptually concerned with representations of Australian colonialism. She makes visual references to the representations of Australia as seen in early Australian colonial paintings, by recontextualising these depictions of a Western viewpoint of Australia.
Ross also references the desire to trespass or invade another persons’ property. For example her video, The Claiming of Things (2012) features the Westernised, neon yellow fencing being placed throughout previously untouched natural habitats and Indigenous land, a British couple graffiti rocks, a myriad of Western material (including television, traffic cones and cupcakes) being dumped into the landscape and the soundscape of iPhone ringtones, sirens and Western classical music. Ironically, the landscape is ultimately reclaimed and restored to its natural state by flooding.
References:
http://joanross.com.au
Ross also references the desire to trespass or invade another persons’ property. For example her video, The Claiming of Things (2012) features the Westernised, neon yellow fencing being placed throughout previously untouched natural habitats and Indigenous land, a British couple graffiti rocks, a myriad of Western material (including television, traffic cones and cupcakes) being dumped into the landscape and the soundscape of iPhone ringtones, sirens and Western classical music. Ironically, the landscape is ultimately reclaimed and restored to its natural state by flooding.
References:
http://joanross.com.au
Yardley works predominantly with painting and drawing in her work. She draws inspiration from Victorian postcards and other source material including vintage journals, books and magazines, and she uses much of these materials in her collages.
Yardley deals with themes such as fragmentation, timelessness, memory and nostalgia. Such themes are present in Morphology (2014), which makes clear visual references to fragmentation both literally and metaphorically where the memory tools (eyes and brain) are excluded from the image and replaced with a bird. This type of surreal symbolism is also common within Yardley’s work.
Yardley deals with themes such as fragmentation, timelessness, memory and nostalgia. Such themes are present in Morphology (2014), which makes clear visual references to fragmentation both literally and metaphorically where the memory tools (eyes and brain) are excluded from the image and replaced with a bird. This type of surreal symbolism is also common within Yardley’s work.